Sanctuary - Side 2
What Am I Supposed to Do?
I decided to spend a night at home while my girlfriend, Abby, is out celebrating her new job as well as her best friend’s birthday. I wanted to be readily available just in case she needs me. When she found she got her dream job, I had never seen her that happy; the smile on her face was as wide as could be.
I walked toward our bedroom where she was having an important phone call.
“Thank you so much. I’ll be there on Monday, Sir. Have a great day.”
After a couple of seconds, she hung up the phone and placed her phone on our bed; she turned to me and smiled.
“I got the job. I got the job, Alex!” she squealed.
She hugged me tightly as she had burst into joy. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
“Congrats, babe. You’ve worked so hard for this.”
“I know. Right? I’m so fucking happy right now.”
“I can see that.” I said, laughing.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
She kissed me and I kissed her back.
“Wanna celebrate?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Abby smirked and tugged on my hand, clearly answering my question. I slammed our bedroom door shut with my foot and off went our clothes.
“I cannot wait to tell Miranda and the girls. Oh my God! Saturday's Miranda’s birthday. Wonder if she would mind sharing her celebration with me?” she asked while laying her head on my chest.
“I don’t think she would mind at all.”
“You’re right. Saturday's gonna be a night I’ll never forget.” she happily sighed.
I was in the middle of a Star Wars movie when my phone rang. I picked it up and saw that it was Abby calling me; after a couple of rings, answered the most frantic phone call.
“Hey.” she said nervously.
“Hey.”
What’s going on?
I started to get worried just by her tone of voice.
“Abby. What’s wrong? I know something’s wrong.”
I heard footsteps on the other end, followed by a man’s voice.
“Get back here, bitch!”
Fuck.
“Abby.”
“This guy is after me. He saw me at the club and followed me outside.”
My heart started to race.
“Where are you-”
She quickly told me before her phone hit the ground.
“Alex!!” I managed to hear until it disconnected.
Hearing her scream made me angry and sick to the stomach. I grabbed my nearby keys, put on a pair of shoes and raced out of the house to my car. I had never driven so fast in my entire life. Less than fifteen minutes later, I saw her outside of the building with tears in her eyes and a scared look on her face. I rushed toward her and she immediately jumped into my arms and bawled. She clung onto me and didn't want to ever let go again.
“What happened?”
She looked at me with bloodshot and blurry eyes.
“As I said earlier, that creep followed me when I went to the restroom. He managed to disappear until ten minutes later. He saw me and I excused myself; the girls were more than concerned. He came out here…
She paused, having trouble getting words out.
“He pulled down my panties, so he could stick a couple of fingers…”
Once she was done, she was crying and I was beyond angry yet upset at the same time. I pulled her in and kissed the top of her head.
“I’m so sorry that this happened to you, baby. I wish I could’ve been here.”
“Bar hopping with four women?”
“Yes. You’ve had a tough life. You didn’t deserve this. No one does.”
Her mom had her at seventeen and she turned out to be the only family in her life; her grandparents disowned her mother and her father denied Abby was his daughter. Life was tough from the beginning, and despite having a great friend in Miranda, she was diagnosed with depression and her mother ended up not believing her. When her best friend offered a one way ticket to LA, she took it and never looked back, making more friends along the way. It wasn’t an instant fix though with her working multiple jobs just to make ends meet until her dream job as a sous chef that starts next week. However, this is a cog in the machine that no one could ever imagine happening.
“Yeah.”
Seconds later, the police arrived and Abby had to make a statement.
“Oh my God.” she holding her head in her hands.
“What?”
“I have to repeat what I said to you.”
More tears ran down her face that I wiped away,
“You can do this, Abby. I’ll be there if you want me to be.”
“No. I can’t. I just can’t.”
That’s when a policeman came walking toward her.
“Miss, you called 911? Were you the victim?”
Of course she was. Just look at her.
“Yes and yes.”
“What exactly happened?”
Please don’t make her break down again.
“Sir, who are you?”
“I’m her boyfriend.”
“Was he here at all with you this evening?”
“No. I was actually here with my friends.” she replied.
She held onto my hand as tightly as possible. She told them everything she told me without breaking down which definitely surprised me. She was relieved when it was over because I knew that she wanted to go home, but once I saw her friends running toward her, that was going to have to wait.
“Oh my God, Abby. What happened? Why are the police here?” Miranda asked frantically.
“You know that guy I was talking about?”
“How could we not?”
“He followed me out here and well… I don’t know if I can go into detail right now. I’m traumatized. I’ll put it as simply as possible. He raped me.”
All of her friends hugged her which I’m sure was comforting to her.
“I love you guys.”
“We love you, too.”
After the hug ended, a smile appeared on her face.
“Sorry the night had to end like this.”
“Abby. There is no reason to apologize. This is the last thing anyone needs to apologize for.”
“That’s good to hear. Alex and I are gonna go. Aside from what just happened, I had a great night. Happy Birthday, Miranda.”
“Thank you, sweetie.”
A few smiles and hugs later, I wrapped an arm around Abby’s waist and walked toward my car.
“Are you ready?” I asked as she laid her head against the headrest.
“Yeah.”
“Wanna listen to something?”
“Sure. Doesn’t matter what.” she said in a low tone.
“Ok.”
I put on one of her favorite songs from one of her favorite bands.
”... but darling, you are the only exception.”
“I love you.” she said.
“I love you, too.”
The trip was silent aside from the music echoing throughout the car. When we arrived home, she quickly got out of the car and walked to the front door without me; this was worrisome.
“Abby?” I called out as she went inside.
No answer.
“Abby!” I said as I walked into the house.
“In the shower!” she finally answered.
I let out a breath.
“Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.”
I locked the door behind me and ventured into our bedroom where I quickly changed. After a half-hour of watching television, I went to check on Abby.
“Are you alright?” I asked from outside the bathroom door.
Once again, there was no answer. To keep myself from worrying any longer, I walked into the bathroom to check on her. I opened the curtain to the shower and saw her staying and sitting on the floor with her knees up to her chest with the now cold water still running.
“Abby? Please talk to me.”
More silence.
“Is there anything I can do?”
She shook her head.
“Ok.”
I walked away and left, closing the door behind me. I was at odds with myself; I didn't know what to do or if there was anything I could do. This horrendous incident didn't happen to me, so I have no idea what is going through her mind. Unfortunately, this isn’t something you can put a Band-Aid and make it all better. Being helpless in this situation is overwhelming when the person you love the most is hurting and you cannot make it all better for them; add that to my anxiety and there’s an even bigger mess.
I fucking hate this.
Ten minutes later, I heard her walk out of the bathroom and watched her movements from the moment she grabbed pajamas to when she was about to climb onto our bed.
“Could you please stop staring? You’re making me uncomfortable.”
I nodded and looked back at my phone.
“If I sounded like a bitch, I’m sorry. I’m just done. You know what I mean?”
She turned off the light and climbed onto the bed, laying next to me.
How could she possibly be a bitch right now?
“I know what you mean and you didn’t sound like that; far from it, actually.”
She smiled and kissed me; I kissed her back.
“Goodnight Alex.”
“Goodnight Abby.”
